Memorable Season Ends as Pirates Finish Eighth at NCAA Regional - Seton Hall University Athletics
Junior Wenliang Xie (Zhaoqing, China) fired a 2-under-par, 68, to help pace the Seton Hall men's golf team to an eighth-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Yale Re...
Memorable Season Ends as Pirates Finish Eighth at NCAA Regional
Wenliang Xie led The Hall in round three at 2-under-par.
NEW HAVEN, CONN. – Junior Wenliang Xie (Zhaoqing, China) fired a 2-under-par, 68, to help pace the Seton Hall men's golf team to an eighth-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Yale Regional on Wednesday.The 12th- seeded Pirates, needing to place in the Top-5 to see their memorable year continue, placed eighth, out-shooting a pair of teams ranked nationally in the Top-35, Charlotte (31) and NC State (27). The Hall opened the day trailing the fifth spot by 11 strokes, but simply couldn't make ground with a 7-over-par, 287, on Wednesday.
For the tournament, The Hall was 8-over-par with a 275-286-287-848. Georgia Southern placed fifth at 6-under-par, 14 strokes ahead of the Pirates. The other schools advancing are Wake Forest (-26), North Carolina (-19), Texas Tech (-16) and North Florida (-16).
Seton Hall's eighth place finish is the best in program history at an NCAA Regional and its 848 final team score is the lowest in five all-time trips to the marquee event.
Xie had the lowest round of the day for The Hall, using four birdies and an eagle on the par-5, No. 16 hole to fuel his best round of the tournament, a 2-under-par, 68. It's his 11th sub-par round of the year. For the tournament, Xie tied for 45th place with a 6-over-par, 73-75-68-216.
The top Pirates for the tournament, however, were fittingly their most-experienced players. Both Andres Acevedo (San Antonio, Texas) and Gregor Tait (Martlesham Heath, England) tied for 21st place overall at 1-under-par. They finished nine strokes behind the individual champion of the regionals, North Carolina's Austin Greaser. VCU's Adrian Vagberg claimed the automatic bid to the National Championship at 5-under-par.
Acevedo closed out his collegiate career with three birdies down the stretch on the back nine on his way to a 2-over-par, 72, in round three. For the tournament, he was 1-under-par with an impressive 67-70-72-209. It's Acevedo's fourth career sub-par tournament and the third this year.
Tait started his final round with eight straight pars before running into trouble on the ninth hole. He bounced back with three birdies on the back nine and finished with a 1-over-par, 71. In his final collegiate tournament, Tait was 1-under-par with a 69-69-71-209. It's Tait's eighth career sub-par tournament, which ties him for third-most in Seton Hall history.
In his final collegiate round, Deven Ramachandran (San Rafael, Calif.) had two birdies and shot a 6-over-par, 76. For the tournament, the senior was 10-over-par with a 68-76-76-220.
Angus O'Brien (Barwon Heads, Australia) didn't have any double-bogeys in round three, but struggled late and carded an 8-over-par, 78. The future looks bright, however, for the freshman as he scored an 11-over-par, 71-72-78-221, for the tournament to close out his first year.
Tournament Details:
2022 NCAA YALE REGIONAL
Host: Yale University
Location: New Haven, Conn.
Course: Yale Golf Course
Course Vitals: Par-70, 6,766 yards
Dates: May 16-18, 2022
TOURNAMENT LEADER BOARDS | ||||
In 1923, a 700-acre tract of swamp and woodland was given to Yale by Mrs. Ray Tompkins in memory of her husband. Under the supervision of Charles Blair Macdonald, the renowned golf course architect, champion golfer, and co-founder of the USGA, plans were made for an 18-hole golf course. With a budget of $400,000, Macdonald, in collaboration with Seth Raynor, designed a masterpiece which opened for play in 1926.
Today, the Yale Golf Course is recognized as one of the finest examples from the Macdonald & Raynor portfolios. Large greens with deep bunkers and wide, rolling fairways are the core of Yale's strategic and penal character. The Yale Golf Course is consistently recognized as the finest collegiate course in the nation. The course has been the site of every significant state championship, two USGA Junior National events, and NCAA Regionals in 1991, 1995, 2004, 2010, 2015 and again in 2022. The course has also been the home of the Nike Connecticut Open.
The 6,766-yard, par-70 course features large and deeply bunkered greens and narrow fairways that challenge golfers at all levels of play. Two of the holes—the 432-yard par-4 fourth and the 238-yard par 3 ninth—have been ranked among the world's 100 most difficult holes.
THE FIELD
The field consisted of the 14 selected NCAA Yale Regional participants and five individuals. Below are the teams in order of their seed with their Golfstat ranking in parenthesis.
Teams:
- North Carolina (5)
- Texas Tech (8)
- Wake Forest (17) – ACC Champion
- Illinois (20) – Big Ten Champion
- NC State (27)
- Charlotte (31) – C-USA Champion
- North Florida (39) – Atlantic Sun Champion
- Georgia Southern (49)
- Mississippi State (52)
- Virginia (58)
- UCF (68)
- SETON HALL (90) – BIG EAST Champion
- Yale (167) – Ivy League Champion
- Sacred Heart (204) – NEC Champion
- Roberto Nieves, Delaware
- Eddy Lai, UCLA
- Caleb Manuel, Connecticut
- Adrian Vagberg, VCU
- Ryan Tall, Lafayette
Teams played five golfers and count the four lowest scores per round. Teams were allowed to substitute a sixth golfer for any player in their lineup prior to any round.
THE STAKES
In addition to the Yale Regional, there are five others being played simultaneously in Bryan, Texas, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Stockton, Calif., Norman Okla. and Columbus, Ohio. The Top-5 finishing schools from each regional (30 teams total) and the low individual not on an advancing team (six individuals total) will advance to play in the championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., on May 27- June 1.
UP NEXT
Seton Hall's memorable season comes to an end after a BIG EAST Championship and a stellar NCAA Regional run. The Pirates will return to action this fall.
